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<p class=MsoNormal><st1:place w:st="on"><span class=articletitle><b><font
size=5 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-weight:bold'>Trinity
River</span></font></b></span></st1:place><span class=articletitle><b><font
size=5><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-weight:bold'> tensions simmer</span></span></font></b></span><b><font
size=5><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-weight:bold'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=5 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:16.0pt;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><a href="http://www.times-standard.com/local/ci_3766592">http://www.times-standard.com/local/ci_3766592</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span class=articledate><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Article Launched: 04/29/2006 04:27:20 AM PDT</span></span></font></span>
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span class=articlebyline><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>John Driscoll The Times-Standard</span></font></span><font
face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>While it
may have appeared that the fight over the <st1:place w:st="on">Trinity River</st1:place>
was over, a series of letters from the main beneficiary of the water in recent
months raises concern that a less visible battle is brewing. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The
Westlands Water District has written to federal officials recently contesting
the amount of water that will be sent down the river to restore it for salmon,
and protesting funding for projects meant to enhance the river for fish. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>In an
April 19 letter from Westlands' attorneys, the western <st1:place w:st="on">San
Joaquin</st1:place> water district demands the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
release about 15 percent less water than is scheduled. It claims the bureau
improperly forecast what type of water year this is, saying it's a “wet
year,” not an “extremely wet year.” <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The
difference is some 80,000 to 100,000 acre feet -- 26 billion to 33 billion
gallons. Westlands writes that the bureau has no authority to make those
releases. The letter ends with a threat. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>”We
would prefer that this matter be addressed without renewed litigation,”
writes Westlands attorney Dan O'Hanlon. “However, we reserve the right to
seek injunctive relief against the proposed unlawful releases if there is no
prompt corrective action.” <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Another
April letter insists that environmental documents for restoration activities on
the Trinity aren't sufficient and questions the use of funds through the
Central Valley Project Improvement Act to perform the work. Earlier letters
also question funding for restoration. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Not
surprisingly, that has drawn fire from the Hoopa Valley Tribe, which beat
Westlands in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals last year. That effectively put
in place a 2000 Interior secretary's decision to keep half the water in the
river and send half to the Sacramento River, where it's sent on to Central
Valley farms. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The tribe
wrote back to the Interior Department, calling <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Westland</st1:place></st1:City>'s meddling “persistent
antagonism.” <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Tribal
Chairman Clifford Lyle Marshal wrote on April 24 that the actions arise in a
year in which the ocean fishery for Klamath and <st1:place w:st="on">Trinity
river</st1:place> salmon has been nearly eliminated, and during a year in
which there is abundant water available due to a stormy winter. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><st1:City w:st="on"><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Marshall</span></font></st1:City> wrote that the <st1:place
w:st="on">Trinity River</st1:place> diversion project has done major damage to
the river's fishery, and districts that benefit from it have a financial
obligation to restoration. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Then <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Marshall</st1:City></st1:place> strikes back at
Westlands, asking that Interior not renew its water service contracts until
Westlands complies with the 9th Circuit decision and agrees not to interfere
with widely supported flow requirements and fishery restoration goals. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Reclamation
spokesman Jeff McCracken said that the difference between the two forecasts, by
the time the decision was made, was negligible. Between 780,000 and 815,000
acre feet of water is scheduled to be released this year. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>A huge
portion of that water will be released when flows from Lewiston Dam jump in
mid-May as high as 8,500 cubic feet per second. That will taper down again in
mid-July. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>There's
so much snow in the Trinity Alps, about twice the average, that Reclamation is
also letting out more water than it normally would at this time of year. That
will make room for storing the snowmelt, and also ensure the safety of the dam.
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>”There's
just so much going down there right now,” McCracken said. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service Arcata Field Supervisor Mike Long agreed, and said the
opportunity to use so much water to shape the river channel needs to be taken
advantage of. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>”We're
hoping we learn a whole lot this year,” Long said. “These extremely
wet years don't come along very often.” <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on"><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Trinity</span></font></st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">County</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> planner Tom
Stokely said the bureau's decision to use the “extremely wet”
forecast was prudent in light of the Klamath and Trinity rivers' fisheries
problems. Restoring the Trinity is vital to boosting fish stocks, he said.
Trinity water could also be used to cool and raise the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">lower Klamath</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">River</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>,
where in recent years thousands of fish have died, if hot and slow-water
conditions occur again. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>”Is
Westlands trying to ensure that we have permanent ocean fishing
closures?” Stokely said. “Because the Trinity is half the
equation.” <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The
winter also put a huge amount of sediment in the river this year, he said, and
it needs all the water it can get to wash the silt and sand downstream. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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